Memoirs of a Sinner
by Vladmir Cavallo
Summary: Grief can drag one into the abyss of madness, never to return.  It can cloud one's reasoning, reduce even the sanest of people to ashes.  Ponyville is once again in danger, but the one behind it all has his own tale to tell, one of love, tradegy, and sin.
1. Chapter 1

As usual, the Ponyville marketplace was bustling with activity. The sun gleamed from above, the progress of the sunlight all but unhindered due to the profound lack of clouds in the sky. The various ponies went about their daily business, whether it was shopping or simply chatting with friends, there didn't seem to be anyone who didn't have something to do.

Amongst the flood of ponies, one in particular stood out, being of a light purple color, and a mane of dark purple and pink. The horn that jutted outwards from her forehead was glowing with a magenta aura as she sifted through the various stalls assembled at the market occasionally checking the sheet of paper hovering in front of her, defying gravity due to her magical influence. "Now, where was that book stall again...?" she muttered to herself, trying to find it amongst the thrall of bodies. The pony's name was Twilight Sparkle, and she was shopping for books, as was per usual for her daily routine.

But then, Twilight thought she heard a noise from the distance. It sounded kind of like an engine of some sort, and the sound seemed to be getting louder. Twilight didn't seem to be the only one to take notice, as many of the others stopped their business and tried to determine the source of the sound.

They didn't have to search for long, though. A rather large figure was visible a ways away from the market, but appeared to be increasing at rapid speeds. The ponies began curiously staring at the approaching mass, and when the details became apparent, it wasn't one entity, but rather a sizable cart containing various bags that were filled to the brim, as well as having some form of a rocket propulsion system on the back.

An earth pony was inside of the cart, shoved up against a corner, his expression panicked. He had skin of a greyish green color, and was wearing a bright red vest with narrow white stripes, and had a smooth mane and tail of black coloration that were both flapping wildly due to the air rushing towards him, in addition to an assortment of black freckles near his cheeks. He also wore circular, black glasses that he had a difficult time keeping on, and his cutie mark was an assembly of four black gears.

As it became increasingly apparent that the vehicle wasn't going to stop, the ponies assembled at the marketplace began fleeing, but Twilight ended up being too slow on the uptake. The contraption crashed through a few stalls and ran right into Twilight, the impact sticking her to one of the colossal bags. After a few moments, she managed to fall back to the cart's surface.

The machine was flying through the streets of the town as the bespectacled pony was fiddling with some form of remote, presumably that was supposed to control the contraption, to no success as the cart continued its path. "Come on...come on..." he said, up until he was simply mashing buttons, trying to get it to do anything other than go forwards.

Twilight, blocked from going back to see what he was up to by the wall of bags, was forced to look forwards. Disconcertingly enough, the vehicle began hurtling straight for the library. If this hulking mass were to slam directly into the structure, the results could be catastrophic. However, with no visible method of stopping it, she simply closed her eyes.

Then, the supposed driver finally managed to stop the vehicle...sort of. The vehicle did indeed stop, but the main body of the cart quickly and unexpectedly tilted forwards like a catapult, propelling Twilight, the unknown earth pony, and the cargo towards the library. Luckily, the weight of the bags was enough for them to harmlessly hit the tree and fall back down, or in some cases not even reach the building. But the two ponies, being much, much lighter, were shot higher and farther, towards a window that led to the upper floor, the living quarters of Twilight and Spike.

Spike, meanwhile, was simply laying down on the floor, somewhat bored. He had already organized the newest books in the library as Twilight had asked him to do, and he had a profound lack of anything to keep him busy, as Twilight had gone book-shopping. And, since she always took ages when she was book-shopping, Spike decided not to go. In hindsight, he admitted that book-shopping would probably be better than simply staring at the ceiling all day.

However, his lazing came to an abrupt end when Twilight and the other pony unexpectedly crashed right through the window, landing on the spot of floor next to Twilight's bed. Spike let out a startled yelp, and hurriedly stood up to figure out what the source of commotion was. As it ended up, the earth pony had landed right on top of Twilight.

After a moment to adjust to his new surroundings, the pony who had been driving...or, rather, attempting to the vehicle earlier let out a gasp and was quick to scramble off from on top of Twilight. In his hasty movement, he tripped and fell to the ground, dropping his glasses. Twilight righted herself, staring at him as he blindly fumbled about, head close to the ground in order to locate his spectacles, which were on the floor not far away. He ended up bumping into a nearby bookshelf, the majority of the contents falling and landing on his head.

Spike let out a snicker at the pony's disoriented demeanor, but was quickly silenced when Twilight shot him a hard gaze. Not wanting the guy to hurt himself any further, she located his glasses. "Here," she said simply, handing them to the pony, before turning her attention to the numerous books that had fallen to the floor in his daze. She gave a sigh. "It's going to take a while to reorganize those..." she said somewhat solemnly.

Upon her saying this, the green pony's eyes widened in shock. "This is your place?" he asked, somewhat fearful. "Oh, I'm sorry! I...I didn't mean for that to happen! I just thought that I c-could use the rocket to make the t-trip faster, but then..."

He then started going on a very panicky rant, casting occasional fearful glances at Twilight, who simply gave him a confused stare. "So...who are you?" she inquired, partly to snap him out of his current state.

"All of the supplies i-in there hopefully...huh?" he said, taking a moment to realize that a question was being asked. "Oh...I'm L-Linus. I-I'm sorry about your belongings..." As he spoke, he cowered somewhat, as if expecting Twilight to hit him. His voice was like that of a child caught doing something wrong.

"It's okay...you didn't break too much..." she said, looking through the room. Linus had managed to throw numerous books right onto the floor. Resorting those would be time-consuming. Then there was the broken window, which would have to be fixed quickly. "What was that thing, anyway?"

"It was something I had made to transport my things...I was moving here from Canterlot. I had installed a-a rocket to decrease the amount of time it would take to get here, b-but I miscalculated on how fast it would go. I-I managed to stop it just in time, but..." Linus explained, his sentence trailing off as he gave a glance at the window.

"It's fine." Twilight dismissed the matter. He looked ready to burst into tears at any given moment as it was, so getting angry at him would likely hurt his feelings further. "Trust me, it won't be too much trouble to fix it. I'm Twilight Sparkle."

Linus's expression then turned to that of shock. "Wait. Twilight Sparkle? The Twilight Sparkle?"

"Well, duh!" Spike replied before Twilight could say anything. "How many other unicorns are there that are named Twilight Sparkle?"

Linus let out a gasp of recognition. "Oh my gosh, I never thought I would see you here! You...you and your friends were the ones who saved us from Nightmare Moon! And you imprisoned Discord after he broke free of his curse! And you defeated the Ursa Minor, and..."

As Linus went on, he spoke with an almost childlike reverence and became even more enthusiastic. "Well, I don't really like people talking about it all the time..." Twilight said with a somewhat embarrassed grin.

Linus stopped while recalling an event with a mighty sea serpent, and gave one blink. Then another. "Oh. I can understand that. Sorry, I just didn't imagine to see you here, of all possible places. Fame isn't for everyone, I guess."

Linus then picked up a fair bit of commotion coming from outside, and gave a look outside of the shattered window. "Oh dear," he murmured, once again growing a bit anxious.

A crowd of ponies had gathered around Linus's device. Naturally, because the thing had caused quite a disturbance. "They're going to want to know who caused this...oh dear..." he continued to whisper to himself. He hated being in crowds, especially if he was supposed to be the center of attention.

Twilight also saw the ever-growing mass. "It's going to be alright. They probably won't be too mad. These kinds of things happen a lot," she said, trying to calm Linus, who had began trembling at this point. This guy was easier to scare than the fillies during Nightmare Night. "C'mon. It'll be a nice time to introduce yourself, too."

Twilight and Spike then began walking out of the building, and Linus was about to follow her, before he realized that, in an attempt to get a better look at the scene, he had situated himself at a precarious angle, his weight shifting and sending him crashing out of the window and into the ground below, leaving a rather impressive imprint at the impact point.

He uttered a weak "Ow...", only to find that he had landed near the horde of ponies, and was quick to try and rearrange himself, adjusting his glasses. Due to having crashed into things multiple times at this point, his vest had a few dirt stains on them, and his mane was ruffled. Twilight had just then reached the front door, her reaction to Linus's fall an exasperated sigh. This one seemed to get himself into antics like this a lot. The ponies began turning their attention to him, and a slew of murmurs began flowing through the crowd, some of them recognizing him.

Upon seeing everyone staring at Linus, Spike gave him a nudge, as they were probably expecting him to say something. But instead, he simply started sweating, nervously tugged at the collar of his vest, and began stammering so badly it was nigh impossible to figure out what he was trying to say.

"Everyone, this is Linus. He's moving in from Canterlot," Twilight said towards the group, speaking for Linus. "Yes, he did just kinda rampage through the town with a rocket-powered machine, but no worries, it won't happen again."

And then, preceded by a loud gasp, Pinkie Pie came rushing in from the midst of the crowd, approaching Linus with almost no warning at all, bouncing up and down excitedly around him.

"Oh my gosh! There's finally someone new in town! It kind of gets boring around here seeing the same ol' ponies each and every single day. So your name's Linus? That reminds me of a duck for some reason, which is kind of weird, 'cause I'm pretty sure I've never met any ducks named Linus, or anyone else named Linus, really. I'm Pinkie Pie! Pleased to meet you! You know, this kind of like when I met Twilight. Although, she was all huffy and grumpy and wasn't paying attention to a word I was saying. You're paying attention to a word I'm saying, right? I hope you are, because not many other ponies do. They keep saying that all I do is talk and talk and talk, but not talking at all is no fun! Neither are big, nasty grumps. Kind of like that one griffin I met. Speaking of which, have you met Rainbow Dash yet? She's probably one of the best fliers in all of Ponyville! Which reminds me of that one time when we started pranking just about everyone here, but then that silly griffin I told you about earlier showed up, and then she was all, 'Why would I hang out with you dweebs?, and she was really, really mean to the other ponies. Sorta like that 'Great And Powerful Trixie' we met that one time, who just went 'blah, blah, blah, my magic's better than all of you, blah, blah, blah', but when the Ursa Major...no, wait, it was Ursa Minor, never mind! Sorry, I tend to get things mixed up a lot, even though it's important to know the difference between those two, because..."

Linus simply tried to keep track of what the pony was saying as she continued chattering, completely changing the topic on a constant basis. "Um, Pinkie Pie?" Twilight said to her energetic friend. "I think you're confusing him."

"Oh, okay! Nice chatting with you!" She then bounced back away, Linus giving a sigh of relief.

"Anyways, he has to get going to his new place, so everyone feel free to go back to whatever it was you were doing," Twilight said, and the crowd quickly began dispersing. Linus then managed to find the remote among the site, and returned the cart to its normal state. He then began placing the bags back in, followed by attempting to push the cart. Now, the reason behind needing a form of propulsion became even more apparent; he was barely able to move the thing.

"Um...do you need help?" Twilight asked, but Linus didn't respond, continuing to try and push the load. "At this rate, it'll take you all day. Are you sure you don't want any help?"

At that point, Linus realized the futility of his efforts. "Yes, please..." he said, panting in exhaustion. He was obviously not built for physical activity. Twilight then lifted it using her magic, and began walking, following Linus to his place.

"So, you made that thing?" Spike inquired, gazing at the contraption.

"Yes," Linus said. "I must admit that I hadn't tested it fully before coming here, probably because I was in such a hurry to move out of Canterlot. Things there are far too...hectic for me."

"You know, you haven't even been here ten minutes and you've already caused a big disturbance," Twilight noted. "Do you always get yourself into this much trouble?"

"Yes," Linus answered simply. "My inventions malfunction a lot, as you've seen. So, of course, they go out and cause a gigantic mess. Which then makes the local civilians angry with me. It's a wonder that I hadn't been kicked out of Canterlot before I came here." As he spoke, his head noticeably drooped.

"Hey, don't get so upset about it," Spike said. "Even though it was just running things over, that thing is really cool. And you built it all on your own? You must be really good at making things!"

"Well, whether or not they work is something else, but I guess you're right..." Linus replied.

"So, where are we going? Twilight asked, not knowing where Linus's place of residence is. During their walking, they had already reached the outskirts of town, and the density of buildings had noticeably decreased.

"It's right over there." Linus pointed to a house that was a symmetrical mess. It looked like what was supposed to be a normal home that had been hand-crafted by a blind pony, with various parts of the building looking like they had been pieces from different buildings smashed together, and jutting out from various spots were rotating gears. Twilight laid down Linus's bags near the doorstep.

"I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble," Linus apologized. "I hope things work out a little better. Not that I would count on it, but a pony can hope, huh?" With that, Twilight watched as he began carrying his various bags into his home, forgetting to shut the door behind him.

"Twiiiiliiiight!"

The voices were from none other than Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom, the very latter of which appeared to be carrying a scroll of some sort, and they all looked somewhat panicked. They were rapidly approaching on Scootaloo's trademark vehicle, and came to a stop before Twilight. "What is it?" Twilight asked. They seemed unnaturally anxious over something.

"We need this delivered to Princess Celestia, pronto!" Scootaloo urged, Apple Bloom thrusting the piece of paper into Twilight's hooves. It was noticeably old, and a few pieces of it were burned, and others appeared to have been torn off.

"Okay...did you guys write this?" Twilight inquired. These three never really bothered with many official matters - what business would they have with the Princess?

"Actually, it's from..." Sweetie Belle was about to speak, but she cut herself off rather quickly, much to Twilight's suspicion.

"We can't tell you. Just send it!" Apple Bloom said hurriedly. Twilight, deducing that it was best not to ask, handed the message to Spike, who, with a quick puff of breath, made the message disappear amidst a swirl of purple and green energy.

"So what was that all about...?" Twilight was about to ask, but the Crusaders had already left. Deciding not to worry about it, she walked back towards the library, in order to sort all of those books that had been strewn across her room because of Linus. That was going to take a while, that's to be sure...

Celestia was sitting in her quarters, when a quite disheveled scroll of parchment appeared before her eyes in a swirl of energy. It was surprisingly haggard, if its rough edges, odd scent, and tarnished surface was anything to judge by. Celestia gave the scroll an inquiring gaze, inspecting the exterior thoroughly. The seal had no form of identification, and the letter's condition made her wary. Still, she opened the scroll, reading the contents to herself, only to let out a gasp of recognition as the handwriting and wording seemed to take on a familiar form, yet one she had not seen for ages.

"No...how did he..." she whispered disbelievingly to herself as the Solar Princess quickly stood and bolted out of the room, leaving the note laying on the ground, the words carrying all of the weight and finality of a death sentence:

_**EQUAL LIGHT.**_

_**EQUAL DARKNESS.**_

_**THIS IS WHAT I HAVE SOUGHT, AND AFTER CENTURIES OF BANISHMENT, I SHALL HAVE IT AT LAST.**_

_**REMEMBER ME, CELESTIA?**_


	2. Chapter 2

After settling his things, which only took about an hour, Linus started made his way back out of his house, once again forgetting to shut the door. The afternoon sun was hovering above, brightly illuminating the ground below. He toted a very large and presumably heavy beige backpack, as well as various pouches of a similar color on his legs. He wanted to get to know the place and its inhabitants. After all, he was probably going to be living here for quite some time, so it would be best to figure out who was who and what was what around here, hesitant as he was about the idea. When he tried this at Canterlot...

Well, the results were less than pleasant.

However, his train of thought was interrupted by a multicolored blur speeding past him overhead, startling him up to the point that he fell flat on his back. Upon picking himself up, he looked up and managed to get a better view of the scene. The source was revealed to be a cyan pegasus, who was currently performing countless swirls, twists, flips, and various other acrobatic techniques that almost made Linus wish he had wings. The acrobatic maneuvers left swirls of color in their wake, enveloping the skies like a beautiful hurricane.

Unfortunately, the aerial pony didn't seem to take into consideration that there was someone else just down below, because when she came low to the ground and picked up speed, she ran headfirst into Linus, the two tumbling into the nearby wall of Linus's house. Upon impact, the inventor gave her a concerned look. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" he asked.

The pony was quick to get up, flapping her wings, as if confirming that they still worked. "Well, duh!" she responded. "I've ran into things way worse than a wall and just kept on flying right afterwards!"

She then gave him a curious stare. "Hey, you're that Linus person from earlier, aren't you?" she said, her scrutinizing giving him a sense of discomfort.

"Yes, I'm Linus..." he mumbled. "So, do you live around here?" he asked tentatively.

"You bet!" the pegasus answered enthusiastically. "Rainbow Dash, best flier in Ponyville, and one of the best fliers to come from Cloudsdale!"

"I saw you earlier...well, before you ran into me, that is," he said, going quiet for a moment before continuing. "You were probably one of the most nimble pegasi I've seen...barring the Wonderbolts, of course. I just moved in from Canterlot. Pleased to meet you."

"So this is your place?" Dash didn't respond, and instead took to examining the exterior of Linus's adobe. "It looks...weird," she concluded. "And what's with these gears popping out everywhere? Is it gonna turn into a giant robot or something?"

Linus gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, it does look kind of silly. But I like it," he said. "You want me to show you around inside? It probably won't seem much better, but..."

"Sorry, I've got weather patrol. Doesn't really leave much time for visiting. I'll let you know when I'm finished, though," Dash said, halting her investigation.

"Okay, then. Bye." Linus didn't even finish his statement before Rainbow Dash zoomed off, disappearing from view in mere seconds. After a gaze at the point where she had disappeared, he continued onwards, heading into the town proper. He cautiously skirted around the marketplace, not wanting to upset the place any further. He noticed that, when he walked by, various ponies made curious stares and quiet whispers, but no drastically audacious reactions, much to his relief. Still, the fact that he knew he was being talked about made him worried.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, his backpack opened on its own accord and five robotic arms sprung out, the hands on the end flexing their fingers, as if performing a start-up process, startling more than a few of the other passerby. The backpack was actually one of the inventions he took the most pride in, the Omni-Directional Device with the Bent of Ambidexterity and the Liquidation of Lethargy, or as most people called it, the ODDBALL. It was the result of countless months, if not years of work, an apparatus of a total of eight, dark grey arms made out of pure steel, built in order to assist Linus in various task he couldn't handle on his own, as well as to compensate for his clumsiness that he displayed quite adequately at times.

Two of the arms brought out a rather large scroll from one of the pouches, displaying a map of the area. Two of them each brought out a pen, and the last one pulled out a smaller piece of paper with a checklist, listing the various major facilities in the town. One of the pen-wielding arms was tracing his current path through the town, while the other was thumbing through the checklist. "Hm...I'll start at the town square. That might be a good place to start..." Linus muttered to himself as he continued walking.

Unfortunately, he didn't notice the small creature at his hooves as he tripped and fell to the ground, the various objects he had previously held escaping his mechanical grasp and sprawling around the area. After picking himself back up, he looked back only to find that it was a series of rabbits, which had been walking in a straight line across the road. However, Linus's disturbance had spooked the animals up to the point where all of them scattered in all directions.

"Oh, no..."

A very small voice could barely be heard over the clamor Linus had caused. Its source was revealed to be a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail, who was trying to calm the animals with reassuring words, although her efforts slowly diminished in enthusiasm, and soon enough, all of them were nowhere to be found.

"Um...excuse me?" Linus called to the pegasus. She gave a startled squeak, not only was it due to Linus seemingly showing up from nowhere, but the conglomerate device that was surrounding his form. Admittedly, the ODDBALL didn't give the best of first impressions on most ponies, having such an unnatural nature. Linus noticed this, and was quick to retract the arms back into the backpack. "Sorry about your friends. I didn't realize they were there..."

"It's okay. They'll find their way back. They always do..." the pegasus half-whispered, although she didn't seem too convinced.

"Good," Linus responded with a slight smile. "My name's Linus. Pleasure to meet you, even in spite of the circumstances."

"I'm Fluttershy..." she said hesitantly. "Were you going somewhere?"

"I don't really know. Around town. I just moved in from Canterlot, so..." Linus was about to continue, but then he noticed another pegasus, this one light grey in color, but most noticeably, her eyes seemed to be facing two completely different directions.

She was shouting various cries of "Mail call!" heading straight for Linus from the skies. Well, not perfectly straight. Her flying was, in truth, very spastic and zig-zagged, running into nearby buildings on numerous occasions. After a while, he landed right in front of him, but for some peculiar reason, she simply stood there, staring blankly at the earth pony.

"Excuse me?" Linus waved one of his hooves in front of the pegasus's face, and she appeared to return to her senses.

"Oh, right! This is from Twilight Sparkle! And, Fluttershy, this is also from Twilight Sparkle! She's sending lots of letters today." After a bit of rummaging through the mail pack, she pulled out...a muffin. "Whoops, sorry!" she said, putting the muffin back into the pack, and finally managed to obtain the letters to Linus and Fluttershy, handing them to their respective recipients. But she did not fly back off; instead she took out the muffin from earlier, and stared at it for a good while. After a bit, she began eating the pastry, completely oblivious to the confused stares of the other two.

"Um...don't you have other people to get to?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Upon hearing her statement, the mail carrier finished off her snack and flew off, running face-first into the wall of a building. After readjusting herself, she began her course again.

"That was Derpy Hooves," Fluttershy explained quietly. "She's a bit...um..."

"Eccentric?" Linus suggested.

"Yeah...you could say that." The two then began opening and reading the letters, Linus reading his aloud:

"To my dearest friends...and Linus. Princess Celestia has sent me a letter requesting our presence at Canterlot as soon as we possibly can. She says it's urgent, so I'm asking all of you to come to the library right away. From, Twilight Sparkle."

"Why would the Princess ask for me? I just moved out of Canterlot...why couldn't she have told me beforehand?" Linus contemplated. But, nevertheless, he still began making his way towards Twilight's place of residence, Fluttershy stating the she had to make sure the animals were okay, and that she would be there in a moment.

It wasn't that far of a walk, and no other incidents occurred, much to Linus's relief. He really didn't want to run into anything else today, either figuratively or literally. Upon entering the structure through the front door this time, he saw five other ponies assembled there: Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and two others he didn't recognize, and Spike was also there, currently on Twilight's back. Fluttershy entered not soon after Linus.

One of the other ponies, this one having a bright orange color and yellow hair, as well as donning a light brown hat, approached him. "Well, howdy!" She gave an enthusiastic greeting, her thick Southern accent very apparent as she extended a hoof in greeting. "Name's Applejack, one of the caretakers of Sweet Apple Acres!"

"M-my name's Linus..." He shrunk back slightly, somewhat intimidated by Applejack's loud voice. He wasn't fond of people who spoke loudly, and he himself was sensitive to loud noises. The amount of ear protection he would wear while in the workshop was extravagant.

"Come now, Applejack, you're scaring the poor dear to death." The other pony, having white skin in addition to a gorgeously styled mane and tail of a deep purple color, had trotted over, speaking to Applejack before turning her attention to Linus. "So you were the one causing the ruckus everyone's talking about? I'm glad I wasn't caught up in that mess. My name's Rarity."

The mare was noticeably analyzing Linus as she spoke. "My, what happened to you? Your outfit is stained, your mane is disoriented, your glasses are bent...you, darling, are in desperate need of a makeover."

"Rarity, not now," Twilight said in a somewhat tired fashion. "Anyways, if all of the introductions are over, are we all ready to go to Canterlot?"

"I guess..." Linus became very anxious at the thought of going back there. People at that place didn't like him, to say the least. The others nodded their assent, Linus seeming to be the only one hesitant to leave.

"Good. With any luck, the chariot should be here any moment..." Twilight proclaimed, and surely enough, said vehicle landed at Twilight's door mere seconds after her statement. The group clambered onto the chariot, somewhat cramped due to the available space being quite minimal, but they all eventually managed to fit. The vehicle was soon lifted into the skies, the landscape of Ponyville becoming increasingly smaller as they headed towards their new destination. Linus had himself seated in between Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and was staring at the floor the entire time.

"Why so sad?" Pinkie Pie asked the disparaged pony. "Come on, we're going to Canterlot! Lighten up a little!"

Linus, however, simply gave a sigh. There were these ponies around him who had done these great things, and then there was him. He didn't fit. All he did was create contraptions that went bad most of the time. Why would Celestia ask him specifically to go, too?

"So, Linus," Twilight said to the inventor. "Do you know why Celestia wanted you to come with us?" Admittedly, she was a bit confused on the matter, and from what she had seen of him, he was not cut out for this kind of thing.

"Honestly? No." Linus was frank in responding. "I mean, when I lived back in Canterlot, Celestia had taken an interest in the things I made...even the ones that broke. She started checking in every now and then to see how I was doing. She kept saying that I could do big things, if I just had a little more confidence in myself. Easier said than done..."

At that point, they had already reached the city proper, the trip taking a short amount of time. To Linus's relief, they had landed near the entrance to the castle proper, the structure's walls and windows towering over them. The less time he had to spend in Canterlot, the better.

After some navigation across the castle, they finally reached the main throne room. It was a long hallway with stained glass windows adorning the walls, depicting various feats, such as Nightmare Moon's defeat at the hands of six fearless ponies, and Celestia and Luna sealing away Discord. At the end of the hallway was a dark red, beautifully adorned throne, with curtains of a similar color on either side. Celestia herself stood in front of said throne, her multi-chromatic mane and tail flowing elegantly, her white skin seeming to shine.

However, there was something off about the Princess's countenance. As opposed to wearing the warm smile as she usually did, her expression was dead serious. The reason Celestia required their presence was obviously not a happy one.

"Thank you for responding as quickly as you did." Celestia spoke with a voice that sounded worried. "I'm afraid that there is indeed another evil that threatens to destroy harmony in Equestria."

"Again?" Pinkie Pie complained. "Seriously? How many people around here are trying to destroy Equestria? Can't they just go bother some other place or something?"

Disregarding Pinkie's rambling, Celestia continued. "I've made an effort in keeping knowledge of him to a minimum, for the sake of protecting the kingdom's welfare. But, that has become extremely difficult, because now he's back in the open.

"You see, Luna and I weren't the only ones who ruled Equestria. There were also two Princes who shared our rule: Equinox and Solstice. They assisted us in keeping the kingdom thriving and safe from any potential threats. But, when I sealed Luna away after she turned into Nightmare Moon, grief began to drive Equinox mad. He tried to attack Solstice in his current state, and very well would've succeeded, if I hadn't intervened at the right time. I banished him from the kingdom, hoping that we wouldn't have to see him again.

"The attack had lasting effects on Solstice, though. He began growing paranoid, and was quick to abandon his duties and flee to the far reaches of the kingdom, thinking that I would be the next to betray him, and that he couldn't trust anyone else. Now, Equinox has come back, and I have a feeling that he wants revenge. But he isn't aware that Luna has already been freed, and any attempts to convince him otherwise probably won't work."

"Why haven't you let Luna know about this?" Twilight asked. "It seems that she would be able to help."

"To protect her," Celestia clarified. "Knowing what Equinox has become would probably shatter her. Plus, after a thousand years of banishment, we don't know his reasoning, if he even has any. He might not even remember her, although that's unlikely.

"So, I entrust you with two tasks: First, it would be advisable to get Solstice out of hiding. He knows Equinox better than any other pony I can think of, save Luna, so his advice would be extremely useful. Then, we have to stop Equinox's plans, whatever they may be. The things that he's capable of are numerous, and if we don't act in time, I fear that Equestria might pay the price."

It took him a way to say it, but finally, Linus spoke. "Why me, Celestia? Why did you pick me, of all ponies? I don't possess any of the Elements of Harmony."

Celestia gave a slight smile. "Your help in this will be invaluable, Linus." Her voice was patronizing and had that warm feeling he knew well. "Plus, I know that you can do great things. You just need confidence."

Linus gave a trembling nod. This is what she always said, and yet he found himself doubtful in the Princess's words.

"Now go," Celestia said, returning her attention to the others assembled there. "Equinox may be a fearsome foe, and he may be a deceitful trickster, but-"

"Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia!"

One of the Royal Guards came rushing into the hallway, taking a few deep breaths before speaking. Normally, the Guards were always serious and downright stoic, but this one seemed highly panicked. "There have been reports of disappearances near the Everfree Forest! We've tried to investigate the situation, but none of our forces are reporting back!"

"This is bad..." Celestia muttered to herself. "You must find Solstice's whereabouts with haste. I'm afraid I don't know where he's located, and the only one who might be able to find out is Zecora. Find her, and she'll hopefully tell you where he is. And be watchful; Equinox has a particular fondness for stealthily following others."

"Don't worry, Princess!" Rainbow Dash assured her. "When we're through with this guy, he'll be wishing he stayed out of Equestria!"

After a quick goodbye to the Princess, the group had made their way back out of the castle, heading back for the chariot. Linus had heard many things about Zecora, and while not all of them were entirely believable, if there was anyone that they should consult for knowledge, it was definitely her.

"So, the intrepid little oddity who calls himself an inventor has come back to Canterlot?"

Just when Linus thought he was in the clear, the very last pony he wanted to see appeared before him: The unicorn named Pluto. He had a smooth, styled light brown mane and tail to compliment his dark brown, almost chocolate-colored skin. He wore a vest similar to that of Linus, although his was black in coloration. His glasses were also much smaller and placed near the bottom of his teal eyes. He was standing near the chariot, and had that smirk that Linus knew him by all over his face.

"I thought you had left the city with the intention of never coming back," he said in a bemused fashion. "Still trying to create those ludicrous machines of yours, I hope? Even after the last incident, you still seek to create them. That's either dedication to one's craft, or a blatant disregard for safety. Maybe both."

Linus began stammering badly, obviously discomforted by the pony's presence. "W-w-w-w-why do you want t-to know?" he managed to say, tripping painfully over the first consonant.

"Why do I want to know?" Pluto repeated incredulously. "I just wanted to check on an old partner of mine, that's all." He spoke with grace and suaveness, as well as such an enthusiastic form of speaking.

"You know this here fella, Linus?" Applejack questioned Linus, which prompted Pluto to give a melodramatic gasp.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I have yet to introduce myself! Pluto, son of _. You might know him; he's the _ of _, a name I'm sure you know well. I'm currently next in line to become the manager of the corporation, and with my experience, I'm certain I'll be more than able."

"_?" Rarity cried in awe and shock. "You're his son? Oh, how have we not met yet? You might know me from a particular _ a while back."

Pluto then realized who exactly she was. "Ah, none other than Rarity of Ponyville. Delighted to make your acquaintance. Shame you didn't stay and do more. You could've been quite possibly the most proficient designers we've had, with quite a taste for personal appearance, if I do say so myself."

"Oh, why thank you," Rarity said, beaming with appreciation.

"Now, I..." Pluto was about to say something, but upon looking at Rarity, and then the other members of the group, who had been simply watching the scenario play out, he managed to piece things together, and upon reaching his conclusion, he was genuinely shocked.

"My, my, Linus! I had no clue that you would be traveling with none other than the six who have saved the kingdom on multiple occasions! You really get around, don't you?" he said. He seemed like an impeccably friendly pony, yet Linus continued to be suspicious of him.

"Yes, I do...but we have to leave. Now," Linus said, giving an almost pleading glance towards the rest of the group, definitely conveying that he did not want to be anywhere near Pluto at that moment.

"Right. Sorry about that," Twilight apologized to the unicorn. "Maybe we'll drop by later, but we really must get going."

"Do stop in whenever you get the chance," Pluto cheerily suggested. "I'll be sure to make arrangements to accommodate you. Safe journey."

With that, he began walking back from where he came, Linus staring at him with a mix of irritation and discomfort. Once the group was back in the chariot, Rarity was the first to ask Linus about the previous situation. "So, you and Pluto known each other for a long time?"

"Yes. Yes, we do," Linus grumbled bitterly as the chariot took off. "He's my business rival, I suppose. Every chance he gets to humiliate me, he takes it and milks it for all it's worth."

"But he seemed so nice..." Fluttershy mumbled.

"Not to me, he isn't," Linus said simply.

"You are just a magnet for trouble, aren't you?" Twilight noted.

"Yep," Linus replied almost automatically. "But, when you work with the kinds of things I do, you get used to it."


End file.
